premier john horgan’s visit starts action plan for future road upgrades … · 2020-01-10 ·...

Uyaqhmis..November 2019 Issue 53

Premier John Horgan’s visit starts action plan for future road upgrades

By Heather Thomson

Premier John Horgan lived up to a promise made in September and trav-elled the Bamfield Main road to Anacla to discuss the province’s engineering report and future upgrades.

Horgan said he was pleased to see all of the stakeholders at the table, including Western Forest Products, Mosaic, the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastruc-ture, Port Alberni Mayor Sharie Minions,

Bamfield director for Alberni-Clayoquot Regional District Bob Beckett, and MLA Scott Fraser. The group shared a meal at the House of Huu-ay-aht before breaking in to a smaller group for more discus-sions on November 14.

“Together we have the tools we need to make significant upgrades to the road. We have met in a respectful way, and it is clear we are all committed to take the necessary steps to reach our Nation’s top goal of chip sealing the Bamfield

road,” explains Chief Councillor Robert J. Dennis Sr. “By visiting our community, the Premier has a better understanding of how important it is to ensure this vital link is safe for all who travel the road.”

Huu-ay-aht First Nations is pleased that the Premier took the time to travel to the Nation’s main village and is optimistic it will lead to significant upgrades to the road.

Continued on Page 3

Huu-ay-aht envision a strong, self-governing and self-reliant Nation. ʔiisaak, Hišuk ma cawak, and ʔuuʔałuk guide us as we work together to foster a safe, healthy, and sustainable Nation, where our culture, language, spirituality, and economy flourish.

Huu-ay-aht Uyaqhmis is printed up to six times a year to foster community engage-ment among a population of nearly 800 citizens. Uyaqhmis promotes the recovery and sharing of the Huu-ay-aht dialect of the Nuu-chah-nulth language, as well as knowl-edge of Huu-ay-aht culture.

Please send all comments and questions to the Huu-ay-aht Communications Department.

[email protected] Address:

Huu-ay-aht First Nations4644 Adelaide Street,

Port Alberni, BCV9Y 6N4

www.huuayaht.orgfor the latest news and

events, job postings, and a digital archive of Uyaqhmis

Keep up to date with Uyaqhmis on social media:@HuuayahtFN

Huu-ay-aht First Nations Facebook page

© Huu-ay-aht First Nations 2014

Uyaqhmis • Issue 53 November • 2019

Election results look good for Me-Too ClauseMember of Parliament for Courtenay-

Alberni Gord Johns received a strong show of support in the 2019 Federal Elec-tion. He was re-elected for another four years and will sit with the NDP in Ottawa. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was also re-elected, and his Liberal Party will return to Parliament with a minority government this term.

This is good news for Huu-ay-aht First Nations, because the Liberals and Gord Johns have both committed to finding a solution to the ongoing discussions around Huu-ay-aht’s Me-Too Clause and Side Agreement.

During the election race, Huu-ay-aht asked the Liberals about the Me-Too Clause and they responded “If the Liberal Party is re-elected, we will engage with Huu-ay-aht and other Maa-nulth First Nations on matters related to both the Me-Too Clause and the Me-Too Side Agreement.”

Prior to the election, Huu-ay-aht Ex-ecutive Council, administrative staff, and fishers met with Gord Johns.

Huu-ay-aht took the opportunity to focus on fisheries issues, such as work-ing with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans on policy changes that will enable Huu-ay-aht fishers to fish and make

a reasonable living, enacting the “me too” clause and agreement (see August Uyaqḥmis), salmon renewal and en-hancement and creating new opportuni-ties. Elected Chief Councillor Robert J. Dennis Sr. also shared stories of Huu-ay-aht’s strong history of boat building, and acknowledged present fishers and recognized the fishers unable to attend.

Gord Johns followed the comments by Chief Robert J. Dennis Sr. and our fishers by discussing how he values the relationship with Huu-ay-aht and the other Nuu-chah-nulth First Nations. The MP acknowledged British Columbia is expe-riencing a salmon crisis. He would like to see a full salmon crisis campaign to support salmon fisheries including resto-ration and seeing licences in the hands of fishers, and a conclusion to the Ahousaht et al case.

After the meeting, the group headed down to the Bamfield dock to look at James Nookemus’ boat, Nawanhe II and gather for the Kiixin Tour. The tour was led by Stella Peters with additional com-ments and stories from Robert J. Dennis Sr., Ed Johnson Sr., Councillor Edward R. Johnson, and Councillor Connie Waddell. This tour allowed Huu-ay-aht to give our MP a glimpse of Huu-ay-aht’s connec-tion to the land and sea, and why fisher-ies and ocean resource harvesting are a central piece of Huu-ay-aht culture.

Left to right: James Nookemus, Stella Peters, Trevor Cootes, Jayson Nookemus, Ed Johnson Sr., Connie Waddell, Robert J. Dennis Sr., ƛicitatḥ Edward R. Johnson, MP Gord Johns, and Richard Nookemus. (Photo by Heather Thomson)

From Front Page

This included a traditional greet-ing as he arrived in Huu-ay-aht’s territory and a small gathering to pay their respects at the site of the September 13 bus crash that claimed the lives of two young University of Victoria students on their way to the Bamfield Marine Research Centre.

The fatal crash brought to light the need for improvements on the dangerous 85-kilometre stretch of logging road. Huu-ay-aht First Nations has been actively trying to work with all levels of government to address the safety challenges this vital link poses for its citizens and others who travel the road. As a result of the crash and the media attention it attracted, Pre-mier John Horgan agreed to meet to discuss the issue during the Union of B.C. Municipalities. The meeting in Anacla on November 14 was the result of that meeting in September.

Huu-ay-aht has been working diligently for decades to chipseal the Bamfield road, but the fatal bus crash that claimed the lives of two University of Victoria students highlighted the urgency of the safety concerns. Since the Bam-field road opened in the 1970s, Huu-ay-aht has lost eight citizens and witnessed countless acci-dents along this dangerous stretch of logging road.

Tayii Hawił ƛiisin (Derek Peters)

says by committing to find a solu-tion to this issue the Premier is honouring our elders and the Na-tion’s sacred principles of ʔiisaak (Utmost Respect), ʔuuʔałuk (Taking Care of….), and Hisuk ma cawak (Everything is One), which guide us as we do business.

While in Anacla, the Premier directed the representatives from the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure present at the meeting to form an action group with Huu-ay-aht and other key stakeholders to create a plan to upgrade the road.

Chief Dennis says the engineer-

ing report on the road carried out by the province does not dispute that there is an urgent need for upgrades but focuses on what approach to take. He says this offers him hope that the Province and Huu-ay-aht can find a timely, creative solution that works for everyone. He is excited to work with the Province on this important issue as reconciliation is about moving forward together.

Huu-ay-aht showed their appre-ciation to the Premier by present-ing him with a traditional name – Yasuk ma tasii (Yatsuk ma tashii), which means “he who walks the path.”


Bus crash prompts discussion on Bamfield Main

Bamfield ACRD Director Bob Beckett, Port Alberni Mayor Sharie Minions, Huu-ay-aht Chief Councillor Robert J. Dennis Sr., Premier John Horgan, Tayii Hawił ƛiisin (Derek Peters), and MLA Scott Fraser take a moment to remember the lives lost on the Bamfield Road almost two months ago. Huu-ay-aht Councillor ƛicitatḥ Edward R. Johnson and Hawił Jeff Cook do a prayer on Thursday. (Photos by Heather Thomson)

MerryChristmasand a HappyNew Year

Ḥ W Ḥ


By Christine Gruman, Lands and Resources Specialist

łuunim Update

The Nation is continuing to track the progress of łuunim herds in the Sarita and Pachena wa-tersheds – hoping that with good stewardship, our Treaty Alloca-tion from the ḥahuułi will increase before long.

Through the wildlife component of our watershed renewal pro-gram, a network of trail cameras installed in different forest types and environments, is helping us to see how łuunim and ʕaatus are using the landscape and will inform planning of activities on the land. The cameras also help us better understand how and what carnivores like kayuumin, qʷayaciik, and čims (and the oc-casional human) are doing and how much they might be influenc-ing ʕaatus and łuunim numbers.

Early observations indicate that the 2018 translocation was suc-cessful and that the population is growing. This spring, some of the ten translocated cow elk were photographed with new calves, and last year’s young still look-ing healthy. It’s still too early to be certain, but it appears that the translocated elk are staying in the Sarita-Pachena “Elk Population Unit.” However, it is expected to

take several years without hunting until there will be enough to for harvesting to be sustainable.

According to BC’s Roosevelt Elk Management Plan (available online), the number of elk that can be sustainably harvested is tied to several indicators that a popu-lation is doing well. The overall number of animals is the most obvious one. For Sarita, the target is set at 97. There also needs to be the right balance of mature males and females. Generally, the sweet spot is at least one bull for every five cows (to make sure all potential mamas carry a calf each year), with at least three out of 10 bulls being branch-antlered. Finally, the number of calves compared to cows is monitored to ensure enough young are surviv-ing threats like predation and bad winters.

Treaty łuunim Allocations

Currently, the only popula-tion in our ḥahuułi that is healthy enough to sustain a harvest is in the Klanawa. Because we have overlapping territory there, the First Nations harvest is split with our Ditidaht neighbours and our allocation is one buck per year.

Maa-nulth Elk Allocations are described in the Treaty. They differ if the population unit is in exclusive or shared First Nation’s

territory. In hunt zones where two Nations overlap, the Maa-nulth allocation is 25% of the total al-lowable harvest. This get rounded to the nearest whole number (so no one has to try harvesting only 67% of an animal…tricky, even for our expert hunters). The overlapping First Nation receives a similar amount, and anything remaining is split between BC’s Limited Entry Hunt (LEH) and Guide Outfitters. In other hunt zones that are in only one Maa-nulth Nation’s territory, the Treaty allocation is 55% of the total al-lowable harvest, with the remain-ing 45% is split between the LEH and Guides.

This year, there were two Klanawa LEH tags open to all licensed BC resident hunters. As usual, their season is quite short: only Oct 10 – Nov 20, whereas ours is much longer (September 1-March 31). The opportunity to harvest Huu-ay-aht’s allocation was awarded to Myles Danielsen, who was successful in his hunt right away.

Working Together

All community members are en-couraged to participate in taking care of our łuunim populations by reporting all sightings in the Sarita and Pachena area and speaking up if they see or hear of łuunim hunting nearby.


Talking about łuunim in our ḥahuułiQʷayaciik - wolfʕaatus - deer Kayuumin - cougar

ʔačaqłaḥak (a-chuck-thle-huk) - What’s your name?

łuunim - elk čims - bear


This year the annual People’s Assembly was held in Anacla at the House of Huu-ay-aht for the first time in many years, and it was a huge success.

Some citizens chose to stay in Bamfield for the event, but the majority stayed in Port Alberni and travelled by bus to Anacla. Many decided to stay Saturday night in Bamfield to participate in the cultur-al event once business was closed for the day.

When the bus arrived from Port Alberni quorum was achieved and the official business of the day began. Prior to that Chief Councillor Robert J. Dennis Sr. reviewed the progress of the previous year’s citi-zen motions. The overview can be found at www.huuayaht.org under the People’s Assembly.

The Chief Councillor also pre-sented this year’s Annual Report, which included the audited financial statements and committee reports. This brought about a number of questions, including concerns about education and training, proper use of Nation assets such as vehicles, wages and expenses of elected of-ficials, management of the Nation’s resources, hiring policies, and much more.

The first order of business to be voted on was the Appointment of the Auditor. Some citizens ex-pressed concerns that the firm that was appointed was the same firm who did not attend this year’s annual People’s Assembly. Council-lor Connie Waddell explained that there would be stipulations added to their contract requiring them to attend the People’s Assembly. With the addition of that information the People’s Assembly approve the

appointment of BDO as the Nation’s auditor for another year.

The proposed amendments to the Government Act were also ap-proved. This included some chang-es that were approved during the spring sitting of legislature.

Citizens also heard from the Tri-bunal, Queen’s University, and the Huu-ay-aht Group of Businesses.

This year the Assembly ad-dressed four citizen motions. They included the following motions:

- Executive Council suggest that the HGB administrative offices be located on Huu-ay-aht treaty lands or, at a minimum, require that key HGB management and human resources personnel work on Huu-ay-aht treaty lands.

- Executive Council direct that an independent auditor conduct a full review of all honoraria paid to Exec-utive Council in relation to all meet-ings of government and all travel expenses for members of Executive Council paid by the Huu-ay-aht over the past two years and prepare a report, including recommendations

and findings, to be made available to all Huu-ay-aht citizens.

- Approves amending section 77(e) of the Government Act to reduce the quorum requirement for the People’s Assembly to 15% of eligible voters.

- Executive Council require that $5 per cubic metre of any timber harvest from Huu-ay-aht First Na-tions traditional territory be con-tributed to a watershed restoration fund.

All motions were approved by Citizens, with the exception of the quorum requirements, which failed as citizens voted to leave the requirements at the current 20% of the population. The motion on coun-cil travel and honoraria for Execu-tive Council was amended to ask that it be reviewed back four years instead of two.

Executive Council will review these motions, make recommen-dations, and report back to citizen within 90 days of the assembly.

Huu-ay-aht recognized several citizens at the assembly. These included Elders of the Year Simon and Sylvia Dennis and Zelta Clap-pis. This year’s Citizens of the Year were Duane Nookemis, Kristen Young, Tracey Gilmour, and Col-leen Peters. Andrew Clappis was recognized at the Youth of the Year. Thank you to everyone who submit-ted a nomination this year.

The assembly concluded with a culture night lead by Council-lor Edward R. Johnson and Chief Councillor Robert Dennis. The eve-ning event was well attended and allowed people to share and cel-ebrate their culture and traditions.

The Annual People’s Assembly at the House of Huu-ay-aht is a huge success

Huu-ay-aht members Pat Rytter and Linda Young at one of the vendor booths at the People’s Assembly in Anacla. (Photo by Amanda-Lee Cunningham)


Citizens gather from afar to be at this year’s Annual People’s Assembly at the House of Huu-ay-aht in Anacla.

2019 Annual People’s Assembly


This exciting new program is being offered for young men(aged nine to 17) to learn how to provide, protect, and

prepare to respond to challenges that face the Huu-ay-ahtcommunity.

Respect, responsibility, and self-discipline are the

foundation of the program and young men will be learningabout leadership development,local traditional knowledge,

and practices and wilderness survival skills. Huu-ay-ahtyouth will learn about traditional and mainstream

leadership teachings and practices on the land to buildcapability, cultural pride, and confidence.

Adult mentors (Harry Brossault, Charlie Clappis, and Cory

Howard Sr, as well as other community members andelders) provide leadership and mentorship to four youth

identified as having leadership qualities within the Huu-ay-aht Nation.

The mentors have started their training and spent an

amazing weekend on Nettle Island doing team buildingactivities and learning about wilderness survival. Six more

training events are planned to help the young mentorslearn skills they will need to pass along to program

participants. When the youth mentors have completed theirtraining, other Huu-ay-aht youth will be invited to attend the

program.

In addition to the training events, youth mentors will beparticipating in community service opportunities in both

Port Alberni, Anacla, and Kyuquot.

When the Warriors program is open to all Huu-ay-aht maleyouth aged nine to 17, information will be shared.

Introducing the Warrior Program

Child and Family Wellness

The Child and Family Wellness Team

would like to take the opportunity to

acknowledge citizens who came out

to Community Engagement Sessions

in October. It was great to connect

with so many people, introduce the

team, share conversation, and

answer questions.

Child and Family Wellness Office

#1-4641 Margaret Street

Port Alberni, BC V9Y 6H1

Mailing: Port Alberni Government Office

4644 Adelaide Street

Port Alberni, BC V9Y 6N4

Phone: 778-419-1013

Huu-ay-aht after-hour emergency line for

child protection and mental health crisis

250-731-6999


Grand prize exceeds expectations for Cando Conference draw winner

By Sam Laskaris Courtesy of Cando

Rhonda Crow attended the an-nual Cando Conference a number of times in the past. Crow certainly got more than she bargained for from the 2018 conference, held in October last year Enoch, Alta. Crow, the Indigenous Learning and Pro-gram Co-ordinator at the University of Lethbridge’s Dhillon School of Business was selected as the grand prize winner of a draw held at the conference.

Crow’s prize, valued at more than $5,000, included a trip for two, fea-turing various excursions, not only to Vancouver but also Vancouver Island, courtesy of the Huu-ay-aht First Nations.

Crow and her husband Rob went on the five-day journey in mid-Sep-tember.

“We were impressed with the hos-pitality,” Crow said. “It far exceeded our expectations.”

Crow, who was attending her fifth Cando Conference in 2018, said entering the draw did not require a huge amount of effort on her part. To be eligible for the grand prize, individuals had to simply visit the various booths at the conference’s trade fair and have their ‘passport’ stamped at each one. Completed passports were then entered into a random draw.

“I really didn’t think about win-ning,” Crow said. “I figured I’m going to talk to everybody at the trade show anyway so I might as well enter the draw.”

Trevor Cootes, a Huu-ay-aht councillor who also holds his First Nation’s economic development

portfolio, said his community has been a gold sponsor of the Cando Conference for several years now.

“They are doing things we sup-port,” Cootes said of Cando, the national organization that promotes economic development in Indig-enous communities across Canada. “It was our way of supporting them by putting this package together for them. It was a win-win situation.”

The Crows began their trip by flying from Calgary to Vancouver, where they stayed at the Skwachays Lodge, Canada’s first Indigenous arts hotel.

The couple then flew by seaplane to Bamfield, the traditional territory of the Huu-ay-aht First Nations. They stayed at the Upnit Lodge, where they were pampered with various gifts as well as private meals from a local chef. The Crows also received

a private fishing tour and boat tour, where they got to see whales up close.

“Their hospitality was excellent,” Crow said of Huu-ayaht First Nation representatives who were involved with the grand prize trip package. “They were great hosts.”

Crow also raved about a visit to Kiixin Village, a national historic site.

“That was really amazing,” she said of the tour of the village, which was abandoned late in the 19th century.

Cootes was pleased that the Crows thoroughly enjoyed their trip.

“From what I see they had an amazing time,” he said. “It was an honour to show them what the Huu-ay-aht First Nations is doing with tourism.”

Economic Develeopment Officer Cynthia Rayner and Elected Councillor Trevor Cootes from Huu-ay-aht First Nations, stand with Rhonda and Rob Crow, the Cando prize winner. (Photo by Amanda-Lee Cunningham)


WHAT IS A COMPREHENSIVE COMMUNITY PLAN (CCP)? It is comprehensive, it will look at everything that is important to Huu-ay-aht: our land, our water, and our people and more. It is about community: it will be developed by the community, for the community. It is a plan: we will imagine our potential, ground it in the possible, and create a plan to make it all happen.

WHY NOW?Since the Maa-nulth Treaty agreement was implemented in April of 2011, growth has been tremendous and we currently have many initiatives underway, under consideration, or proposed. With so much going on, we believe it is time to step back and take an integrated, holistic approach to planning with input from the Huu-ay-aht citizens. This will build a pathway to a prosperous future.

Over the next 8 to 12 months we will be completing a Comprehensive Community Plan for Huu-ay-aht that will build a vision for our future and outline a way to get there.

HUU-AY-AHT COMPREHENSIVE COMMUNITY PLAN


WHO’S WORKING ON IT? Our CCP project will be led by our Nations’ Senior Management Team. We will be getting technical support on this project from EcoPlan, a BC firm with lots of experience working with First Nations and CCPs (www.ecoplan.ca). If you have any comments or questions, feel free to contact William Trousdale at [email protected] or 604-228-1855 ext 1.

WHERE ARE WE?

WE NEED YOU! We need you to help shape our Nation’s future! Participation from members will be the key to our CCP’s success. We will be asking for your ideas and aspirations, and what we can do to make things better for everybody.

TELL US YOUR IDEAS Start sharing your ideas now. And see what others are thinking. Go to our idea brainstorming center at: bit.ly/ideashare-Huuayaht

Finally, come to the February Community Meetings. Bring your issues, ideas and actions because we will be focusing on our Community Plan.

Fal

l / W

inte

r ·

PH

AS

E

Win

ter

· P

HA

SE

Sp

rin

g /

Su

mm

er

· P

HA

SE

1 2 3

WHERE AREWE NOW?

WHERE DO WEWANT TO GO?

HOW DO WEGET THERE?

Citizeninput

History:background research and

data

Current plans and progress

Writingit down

Actionpriorities

Resourcing andresponsibilities

Prioritydirections

Vision

Issues andObjectives

Huu-ay-aht Comprehensive Community Plan - October Newsletter


Treaty Implementation Update #4 - Looking ahead to 2020

Fall is the time of year the Nation starts strategic planning and looking forward to the nextyear. Strategic planning is an important exercise between Executive Council and the senior

managers to set the vision and tone for the future. Next, each department uses that strategicplan as a foundation for their operational plan, which includes the projects and major activities

for the following year. The outcomes of high-level strategic planning and department-leveloperational planning then support the budget season in the Spring.

These are some of the areas Treaty Implementation will be working on in 2020

Feasibility and assessments of Treaty opportunities such as commercial recreationtenures and additions to Treaty Settlement Lands (TSL)Development of a three- to five-year Enforcement Framework Plan (currently inprogress) with community consultations planned from the first half of 2020 (an enforcement framework outlines the considerations, consultations, communications,budgets, timelines, legislation necessary to develop the roles, responsibilities, andrelationships a Huu-ay-aht peace officer will have on TSL).Review of law-making authorities not yet implemented by Huu-ay-ahtTracking Treaty successes and areas for improvements and/or amendments inpreparation of the internal 10-year Treaty Review and Tripartite 15-year reviewParticipation in collective Maa-nulth activities, such as “Me Too” fisheries strategy, bi-lateral enforcement agreements, consultation on major projects, pursuing fundingopportunities, political lobbying.

Looking forward to the next year

If you have any questions or comments regarding the Implementation activities for 2020 or transactiontaxes, status cards, or TSL, please email or call Director of Implementation, Crystal Jack at

[email protected] or 250-723-0100.

Transaction Tax, Treaty Settlement Lands, and Status CardsOn May 1, 2019, the transaction tax exemption for purchases on an “Indian Band Reserve”

ended for Treaty enrolled citizens as part of the transition to Huu-ay-aht’s taxation powers as aself-governing Nation.

This applies for Huu-ay-aht citizens making purchases of goods and services on “Indian BandReserves." It also applies to any “status Indian” making purchases on Treaty Settlement Lands

as TSL are not Indian Band Reserves (which means the exemption doesn’t apply for non-Huu-ay-aht Status Indians on Huu-ay-aht Treaty Lands).

Treaty enrollment does not affect your "Indian Status" as defined in the Indian Act andby the Government of Canada

Your status card is still useful and necessary to access many health services, and it continuesto be a valid form of Government picture ID.

*Indian Band and Status are defined in the "Indian Act"

premier john horgan’s visit starts action plan for future road upgrades … · 2020-01-10 ·...

Documents